PREMIER supercar maker McLaren Automotive is being courted by another Middle East suitor, this time the Abu Dhabi-based investment house CYVN Holdings. 

It has sought control of McLaren from current owner, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat).

McLaren told GoAutoNews Premium that CYVN has entered into a non-binding agreement with Mumtalakat to buy the automotive business and also buy a non-controlling stake in McLaren Group.

Mumtalakat retains a majority share of McLaren Group, parent of McLaren Automotive.Based in Abu Dhabi, CYVN Holdings invests in smart and advanced mobility solutions. Its investments include a substantial stake in Chinese EV maker Nio, made last year at a cost of about $A3.5 billion. 

It also has investments in companies including Forseven and Gordon Murray Technologies, the business of Gordon Murray that has a long association with McLaren including the designing of the iconic McLaren F1.

McLaren told GoAutoNews from England that CYVN’s proposed purchase of 100 per cent of McLaren Automotive would give it access to increased capital, advanced engineering expertise and technology.

Given CYVN’s investment in Nio, this access would be particularly important to McLaren in electric vehicles.

Reuters reported that McLaren said it will gain from the diverse industry experience of CYVN Holdings’ team, leveraging their previous strategic automotive investments.

McLaren said that the agreement was, at the moment, non-binding. If successful, McLaren said this deal would leverage its success in elite motorsport and expand “one of the world’s most prestigious range of high-performance vehicles”, supported by a growing network of over 110 retailers across 30 global regions.

The move aligns with Mumtalakat’s strategy to optimise and grow its portfolio for sustainable financial returns.This non-binding agreement follows the McLaren Group’s announcement in March and reported by Reuters that it has completed its capital reorganisation.

Under this reorganisation, Mumtalakat acquired full ownership of the group’s share capital by converting all preference shares into ordinary shares. CYVN’s deal will now dilute Mumtalakat’s shareholding, but McLaren didn’t reveal the percentage change.

In other news, McLaren Automotive recently has formed a collaboration with Divergent Technologies to create advanced suspension hardware for the new McLaren W1, the latest addition to its supercar line-up.

Launched earlier this month, the McLaren W1 succeeds the iconic F1 and P1 models.It also announced in August that it has selected Atlas Copco as its official smart tooling supplier.  

The brand marketing partnership with Atlas Copco has enabled McLaren to enhance its manufacturing and engineering processes by collaborating with product specialists to refine its operations.